We’re out of sync in time and space – with ourselves, with each other. We’re all in a different place – physically and emotionally. We’re all on a different timescale in our heads and with this virus.

Sometimes we feel we have more in common with someone across the world than next door, and though in “normal times” that may also feel true, it’s striking me even more now, as this is a sampling of what I’ve heard over the last week:

This is no big deal.

I saw this coming in January – I’ve been ready for weeks.

It won’t be that bad here. This doesn’t really affect me/us.

Just as long as I only invite people I trust to the house.

No one is coming in or out of this house for the next 3 months.

Just one last chance to see each other?

I didn’t realise this was such a big deal until…

I’m so confused!

Why hasn’t everything been closed for 2 weeks already?

Why doesn’t everything stay open another week or two?

What’s taking so long to make a decision?

I’ll see you in just a couple weeks.

Hopefully we’ll see each other in December.

We’ll be back to school after Easter.

Friday was the end of the school year – they won’t be back.

Each time I speak to a client, a friend, a family member, I hear and see each of us on our own rollercoaster of emotions, worries, thoughts – everyone’s cart has started, stalled, sped up, jolted to a stop and started over again at different places. Some rollercoasters have a stomach-churning drop ahead, some have already been upside down, some are approaching a tunnel of unknown… what? Meanwhile, many of us are still standing at different points in the queue, anticipating this upcoming scary ride into the unknown. It’s no wonder, when I asked a client, “how are you feeling today?”, she said, “Everything.”

 

We’re looking at charts, graphs, predictions – looking for some anchor or indication to give us a sense of where we are: in a population dense or sparse area? Two weeks ahead? A month out? One client is aware of the short- and medium-term disruption, yet still focused on her North Star. Another client wonders if this changes everything she was working towards.

We are out of sync in time and space more than ever.

Let’s meet each other where we are and move ahead together.